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First time to Japan: 10 days enough? 2018/10/11 14:49
Hi all,

I'm planning our first trip to Japan next year during the sakura season for my family. There are 2 adults and 2 gilrs age 10 and 12 by the time we go. I wondering if 10 days is enough to cover the following.

Tokyo
1 day Disneyland
1 day Disney Sea
1 day- Shibuya and harajuku
1 Akihabar and Ginza
1 day not sure

Shinkasen to Osaka
Base ourselves in Osaka and probably do individual day trips to Kyoto
1 day Kyoto - Imperial Palace and Fushimi Inari
1 Afternoon/ Evening Gion- not sure what to do for the first half of the day

Osaka
1 day Osaka Aquarium and Osaka Castle
Not sure what to do with the remain 1 1/2- 2 days in Oska. Any suggestions ?

Regards
Richard




by Scone grabber  

Re: First time to Japan: 10 days enough? 2018/10/11 22:20
Tokyo:
- there are many options for one day, depending on your interests. I personally would go to Kamakura, but there is defintely still a lot of other things to see in Tokyo. I would also probably do the two Disney parks on separate days, so you have a day for the kids and something for the grown ups

Kyoto:
- again there are million of other places to visit in Kyoto for the one morning you have free. Again it depends on your interests. Nijo castle probably springs to mind, or Arashiyama or many many other places. Have a look at you travel guide or this web page and you will find something.

Osaka:
- You seem to be into theme parks, there is Universal park in Osaka. I never went, but it exists
- Otherwise, Nara is a highlight, or Himeiji, both easily doable as day trips from Osaka.

Enjoy planning your trip.
by LikeBike rate this post as useful

Re: First time to Japan: 10 days enough? 2018/10/12 00:12
If you have kids - this can change things significantly.

I do find Nara one of the more kid friendly places in Japan as the deer are quite nice in the main park. Add the main temple and shrine and it's a nice and easy day out from Kyoto or Osaka.

I was going to suggest more time in Kyoto and less in Osaka, but I'm not sure how much they will / will not enjoy temples and such. I have not visited myself, but there is an Edo theme park which might be worth a visit.

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3934.html

Another potential interesting place is the Kyoto Train museum - but I don't know your girls interest.
by mfedley rate this post as useful

Re: First time to Japan: 10 days enough? 2018/10/12 02:57
It's all up to what you want of course. Though I can't see why you'd fly all the way around the world to Japan and then go to an Americana theme park. Why not see Japan? There are Japanese theme parks as well, like Edo Wonderland in Nikko, and Fuji Q Highland.
http://edowonderland.net/en/
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6918.html
Perhaps see Disney Sea if you like, since it is unique.

Honestly though, with 10 days and at least a couple of them going to theme parks, I wouldn't bother going down to Kansai at all, unless you are really sure you'll never go back to Japan again ever, or at least for the near future. There are loads of places in the Tokyo area.
Have you looked through the site's page on the city, as well as the official city tourist guide, etc?
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2164.html
http://www.gotokyo.org/en/index.html
https://goo.gl/tAECfM

Seeing the Sensoji Temple and Meiji Shrine (and don't skip the Meiji Gyoen Garden there also) is pretty much de rigueur for any first timer. There are close to a dozen beautiful historic gardens in the city, some with a history going back centuries.
https://goo.gl/tAECfM
Plus lots of places for great city views - the Sky Tree and Mori Bldg are some of the best but also rather pricey. If you want to save some money, there are also many good places that are free.
http://supermerlion.com/10-free-tokyo-city-views/
One of the more recent trippy places is the TeamLab Borderless digital museum:
https://borderless.teamlab.art/

If you are set on going down to Kansai as well, then just one day in Kyoto is severely shortchanging the place and if you are already seeing Tokyo, there is no real need to spend any day time hours there. The city comes to life in the evening anyway, and there is more to enjoy, like Dotonbori, Shinsekai, and the city views from atop the Umeda Sky Bldg and Abeno Harukas Bldg.
http://goo.gl/XE5R94

Putting in a half day at least to see Nara is also very worthwhile - the Todaiji Great Buddha will be something you will never forget for the rest of your life.
http://bit.ly/1Rhxg0E

And if you want to see a real castle, skip Osaka "Castle" entirely - it is not a castle, nor even a reconstruction. It's a cube museum with a castle facade thrown over it. Take half a day and go see Himeji Castle and the Kokoen Garden - both are excellent. Get the combo ticket, and one is virtually free.
https://goo.gl/65ZtRi
So if you split your time 50/50 between Tokyo and Kansai, you could do 4 days in Kyoto (you could spend 4 months there and not begin to see it all) with half a day for Nara and half a day for Himeji (though better on different days), and see Osaka after a day of sightseeing in Kyoto. On another evening, you could also go and see Kobe - Mt Rokko, Mt Maya, the Port Tower, Chinatown, etc.
If you are concerned about activities for your kids in Kyoto, remember also there is more than just temples and shrines - the Toei Eigamura studios, monkey park, railway museum, Sagano Scenic Railway & Hozugawa river cruise, manga museum, Murin-an home/garden, etc.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2158.html
https://goo.gl/knQtMg
Also you mentioned seeing the cherry blossoms - you can find a collection of popular places at
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2011_where.html
but I suggest you get out of the big cities to see them, unless you want to "enjoy" them like this:
https://imgur.com/V7xJXfa
by Ken (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: First time to Japan: 10 days enough? 2018/10/12 04:24
I would combine ALL your not-sure days to explore Kyoto and 1 day of Nara.
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2158.html
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2165.html
by miyako (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: First time to Japan: 10 days enough? 2018/10/12 06:55
Ten days is enough if you only cover Tokyo and Kyoto. I wouldn't bother with Osaka unless the castle is a must see in your view. As you'll not find my new in Osaka you already may have seen in Tokyo.

Just do 5 days Tokyo and 5 days Kyoto.
by hakata14 (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: First time to Japan: 10 days enough? 2018/10/13 05:46
We had a great time in Osaka! Of course we went to Universal, but there is a lot more to do in this city! Check out this link for more inspo :) : https://alovingladytravels.com/2018/10/06/11-day-itinerary-japan/
by Kyra (guest) rate this post as useful

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